Support



Feb. 16 1926.

W. F. HOLEKA SUPPORT Filed Dec. 31, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ill/Ill Feb.16 ,1926. 1,573,343' W. F. HOLEKA SUPPORT FiledDec. 51, 1923 2Sheets-Sheet 2 MIR \ I illllllll lllllMlik "Innn Patented Feb. 16, 1926.

untrue WILLIAM F. I-IVOLEKA, or sen FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

' I Y sorrow.

Application fi ledpecc n ber 31, 1923. Serial No. 683,812.

To all whom may concern:

Be it known that I, .Vrnnnm F. Hopnna, a. citizen ofthe Republic ofCzechoslovakia. residing at San Franciscmiri the county of San Franciscoand State of .Cali-iornia,

have invented c ertain new and useful Iin proveinents 1n Supports, ofwhch the foll lowing is a specification.

, tioii with any typeot instrument wh'elffijn it is necessary tomaintain a true horizon regardless of the morenientoi the vehicle orother member on which the instrument is mounted. v

1 In the present application, I have illust'rated'several forms of theinvention serving as supports for moving picture cameras.

l ntaitinglpictures from a, boi i lnotor vehicle, orothermovablesupport, a ialse etiect is produced due to the-movement of thevehicle "or support. In the completedpicture, the support efgpears toretain a horizontal position and the element photographed appears tomove.

' the present invention, I provide a support in the form of av platformfree to swing in two planes, and means for retaining it in horizontalposition regardless of the movement of the vehicle, boat, or othermoving deyice on which the support isa rranged.

M'ore specifically, I provide av motor secured directly to the" supportand a gyroscope driven by the motor and adapted to r tai h mot r s a tin. a ve c l po ti n, whereby the support is retained ina .horizontalposition. i

' l'nj tl ie accompanying drawings, I have shown several embodiments lotthe inYention. In this'showing:

Figure 1 a side eleyation of a tripod showing the invention applied,

Figureilis a planview of the tripod with the camera removed";

Figure 3 is a. vertical sectional view of a portionof the apparatusshown in Figures 1 and 2,

Figure 4 is a similar view taken at right angles to Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a side ele 'ation, partly in section, showing anotherembodiment of the invention, as a support for an aeroplane mapp ng.camera,

.Figure .6'is a similar view of another form of the invention,

Figure. 7 is a plan view of the structure shown in Figure 5 of thedrawings,

Figure 8 is a perspective View of another embodiment of the invention,and,

Figure 9 is a bottom plan View or the apparatus shown in Figure 6 of thedrawings.

Referring" to Figures 1 to l of the drawings, the reference numeral 1designates a table or support of any type. This table is provided withlugs 2 adapted to support a camera or other instrument. In the drawings,I have shown a camera 3 mounted in the lugs in any suitable manner. Asthe came :a' is of the usual construction. a further description of thesame is deemed uu' necessary. An intermediate ring i: is arranged aroundthe table and this ring carries'a pair of oppositely disposed screws'lhesescrews are provided with pointed ends 6, adapted to be received inopenings in the support. An .outer ring '7 is arranged exteriorly of theintermediate ring and this outer ring is in turn provided with screws 8arranged diametrically opposite each other and intermediate the screws5. The screws 8 are provided with pointed ends 9. adapted to be receivedin openings in the ring 4; to pivotally support it. The outer ring maybe supported in any suitable manner. In the drawings, Ihave shown thering pro ided with'lugs 10 adapted to receive the legs 11 of a tripod.

A motor 12 arranged beneath the table and this motor is provided with avertically disposed shaft 13. A gyroscope wheel 1-;1- is arranged onthis shaft.

Referring to Figures and T oi the drawings, the reference numeral 15designates a support for the camera. A camera. 16 is mounted in thesupport by means of lugs 17. The support, assho'wn, isrectaugular inhorizontal cross section and is arranged within a rectangular ring orframe 18. Screws 19 are ringed in the frame dia' metrically oppositeeach other and these screws are provided with pointed ends adapted to bereceived in openings in the supporting member 15. Arranged at right withextensions 20. Each of these extensions are provided with cone shapedopenings 21 adapted to receive the ends of screws 22. These screws arearranged in suitable supporting members 23, forming a part of the frameof the aeroplane. In this form of the invention, I have shown aplurality of motors 2 1 arranged on the frame 18 and the shaft of eachmotor is provided with a gyroscope wheel In the form of the inventionshown in Figures 6 to 9 of the drawings, I have shown an apparatussubstantially. similar to that shown in Figures and 7 of the drawings.This device comprises a table or support 26 surrounded by a ring 27which is connected to the table by means of two oppositely disposedscrews 28. The ring :2 is mounted in an outer ring 29 pivotallysupporting the inner ring by'means of two oppositely disposed screws 30.The table is provided with an extension 31 and a plurality of motors 32are arranged on the extension. Each of the meters is provided with agyroscope wheel The apparatus shown in Figure 8 of the drawings issubstantially similar but is pro vided with two motors in place of thefour motors shown in Figures 6 and 9 ofthe drawings. In this form of theinvention, the motors are likewise provided with gyroscope wheels 33.

The operation of the apparatus shown in Figures 1 to 4 of the drawingswillbe ap-' parent from the foregoing description. Then the camera 18used'on a vehicle, in a boat, or on any other unsteady support, the

vertical position and the table 1 in a horiz'ontal posit-ion. The tripodsupport is permitted to swing laterally of the camera without moving thetable through the provision of the screws 5. In such case, the two ringsassume a position at an angle to the plane of the table and the tablepivots on the screws 5. If the boat, vehicle, or other support tipslongitudinally, the intermediate ring l and the table remain in thehorizontal position and the outer ring assumes an angular position.the-interme diate ring e swinging around the screws 8, as pivots.

In the apparatus.shown in Figures 5 and 7 of the drawings, in makingphotographic maps from aeroplanes, an automatic or cable release camerais generally employed, operated by'the pilot or observer. in the plane.The cameratakes a picture at regular intervals, about seconds apart.These pictures must overlap about per cent or more, because it ispractically impossible to maintain an aeroplane absolutely level. Adislocation from the horizontal of a few degrees may cause photographingof a certain part twice, thus leaving a gap. Furthermore, pictures takenwhen the camera is not properly arranged show a certain distortion whichis objectionable. By means of the construction shown in Figures 5 and 7of the drawings, a camera may be supported with the lens in a horizontalposition regardless of the angle of the plane, the support 15 pivotingon the pins 19 and the frame 18 pivoting on the pins 22.

The forms of the invention shown in the other views operate in the samegeneral manner and illustrate different methods of employing a pluralityof gyroscope wheels instead of the one gyroscope wheel shown in Figures1 to st of the drawings.

It is to be understood that the forms of my invention. herewith shownand described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same, andthat various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit ofthe invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the character described a central support having adepending por-' tion provided at its bottom with an outstandinghorizontal flange, a plurality of motor casings secured to said flange,a depending motor shaft carried by each motor asing, a fly-wheel carriedby each shaft adjacent its motor casing, means adjacent the upper faceof said support for securing an instrument thereto, an inner membersurrounding said support and pivotally connected at opposite sidesthereto, and an outer member surrounding said inner member and'pivotally connected thereto at opposite sides and at right angles tosaid first named pivotal connection, the upper faces of said support andsaid inner and outer members being substantially flush.

2. A device constructed in accordance with claim 1 wherein said supportis provided throughout its-length with an aitial opening to receive aninstrument secured to said support, said flange being substantially'square, said motor casings being cir-.

Cllltllly arranged and secured to said flange adyacent lts corners. i

In testimonywhereof, I affix my signature.

WILLIAM F. HOLEKA;

